STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionPrimary education in Latin America (10 countries)Percentage of population aged 15 to 19 having completed primary education, by ethnicity and sex and genderratio, based on census data (2000-2002)Countries anddate of censusPercentage of youth aged 15 to 19 that completedprimary schoolIndigenousNon-IndigenousGender ratio (per 100)Total Men Women Total Men Women Indigenous Non-IndigenousBolivia 2001 73.7 79.5 68.4 86.4 86.6 86.3 116.2 100.3Brazil 2000 63.7 63.0 64.4 78.6 74.6 82.9 97.8 89.9Chile 2002 93.3 92.5 94.0 95.5 95.1 96.1 98.4 99.0Costa Rica 2000 55.7 56.1 55.2 86.3 84.5 88.0 101.6 96.1Ecuador 2001 70.2 74.1 66.7 74.2 72.3 76.2 111.1 94.8Guatemala 2002 36.3 42.9 30.0 68.7 64.6 72.7 142.9 88.9Honduras 2001 45.1 42.8 47.6 81.6 77.4 85.6 89.8 90.5México 2000 68.7 72.4 65.0 90.0 89.7 90.2 111.3 99.4Panamá 2000 55.8 61.2 50.2 93.3 92.0 94.7 121.8 97.1Paraguay 2002 21.4 25.6 16.8 82.8 82.0 83.7 151.9 97.9Source: ECLAC/CEPAL (2006), 61.Most states focus on access to primary and basic education while under-emphasizing secondary, technicaland university education. In countries such as the United States and Canada, where indigenous high schoolgraduation rates are similar to that of non-indigenous groups, indigenous students are often less well-preparedfor college and are less well-represented in professional and academic fields. 20 This is clearly illustrated bylooking at college enrolment numbers, where in 2001, 3.7 per cent of the Native American and Alaska Nativepopulation was enrolled in college in the United States, in comparison to 5.6 per cent of the total population.When looking only at graduate students, the difference is greater yet. 21 A similar trend is also visible in Nepal,where indigenous peoples’ literacy rates are as high, if not higher than, those of the non-indigenous population,whilst indigenous graduates and post-graduates are only 8.5 per cent of all graduates and post-graduates, yetthey constitute 32.7 per cent of the total population. 2220Taylor and Kalt (2005), 40-43; Greene and Forster (2003), 11-14; Institute of Higher Education Policy (1999), A-2; Indian and NorthernAffairs Canada (2003), 3-4.21In 2001, there were 11,200 Native Americans and Alaska Natives enrolled in graduate studies, or 0.26 per cent of the NativeAmerican and Alaskan Native population in the United States, while graduate students made up 0.69 per cent of the total populationof the country, making them 2.7 times less likely to be graduate students. Taken from United States Census Bureau (2008)American Indian, Alaska Native Tables from the Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2004-2005. Accessed on 24 November2008, at http://www.census.gov/statab/www/sa04aian.pdf22UNDP (2004), 63.CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION | 137